Labels: Application Scalability, Database Scalability, Database Sharding, On-Line Applications, Scalability Architecture, Scalability Economics, Sharding Case Studies
Database Sharding Blog
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Jurriaan Persyn on Database Sharding at Netlog
Jurriaan Persyn has provided an excellent summary of the presentation he gave at FOSDEM 2009 in Brussels, Belgium. FOSDEM is one of Europe's largest annual conference on open source software with about 5,000 attendees. He also provides the actual presentation slides used during his presentation.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Cloud Does Not Magically Deliver Scalability
Peter Wayner, an InfoWorld Test Center contributing editor, has conducted an interesting hands-on comparison of some of the leaders in cloud computing.
One interesting point that Wayner makes almost immediately in his report is that is that cloud computing, at least in the form of immediately availability of unlimited server capacity, does not deliver scalable applications:
There are many benefits of cloud computing, especially the fact that hardware is now a commodity that is available on demand. However, there has been a general perception that using cloud computing providers such as Google or Amazon somehow magically delivers the same scalability as the applications provided by the these cloud computing providers. It should be remembered that providers such as Google and Amazon are also famous for their scalability because they shard their applications.
One interesting point that Wayner makes almost immediately in his report is that is that cloud computing, at least in the form of immediately availability of unlimited server capacity, does not deliver scalable applications:
After a few hours, the fog of hype starts to lift and it becomes apparent that the clouds are pretty much shared servers just as the Greek gods are filled with the same flaws as earthbound humans. Yes, these services let you pull more CPU cycles from thin air whenever demand appears, but they can't solve the deepest problems that make it hard for applications to scale gracefully. Many of the real challenges lie at the architectural level, and simply pouring more server cycles on the fire won't solve fundamental mistakes in design.
There are many benefits of cloud computing, especially the fact that hardware is now a commodity that is available on demand. However, there has been a general perception that using cloud computing providers such as Google or Amazon somehow magically delivers the same scalability as the applications provided by the these cloud computing providers. It should be remembered that providers such as Google and Amazon are also famous for their scalability because they shard their applications.
Labels: Database Sharding, Scalability Architecture, Scalability Economics
Monday, June 30, 2008
The Economics of Database Sharding
Karl Seguin of Fuel Industries makes some interesting points about the economics Database Sharding.
Sequin unkindly speculated that the major database vendors have ignored Database Sharding for commercial reasons.
There are a lot of expensive ways to scale your database – all of which are highly touted by the big three database vendors because, well, they want to sell you all types of really expensive stuff. Despite what an “engagement consultant” might tell you though, most of the high-traffic websites on the web (google, digg, facebook) rely on far cheaper and better strategies: the core of which is called sharding.
What’s really astounding is that sharding is database agnostic – yet only the MySQL crowd seem to really be leveraging it. The sales staff at Microsoft, IBM and Oracle are doing a good job selling us expensive solutions.
Sequin unkindly speculated that the major database vendors have ignored Database Sharding for commercial reasons.
There are a lot of expensive ways to scale your database – all of which are highly touted by the big three database vendors because, well, they want to sell you all types of really expensive stuff. Despite what an “engagement consultant” might tell you though, most of the high-traffic websites on the web (google, digg, facebook) rely on far cheaper and better strategies: the core of which is called sharding.
What’s really astounding is that sharding is database agnostic – yet only the MySQL crowd seem to really be leveraging it. The sales staff at Microsoft, IBM and Oracle are doing a good job selling us expensive solutions.
Labels: Database Sharding, Scalability Economics
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Google TechTalk on Scalability
A Google TechTalk by Marissa Mayer called "Scaling Google for Every User" is now available via YouTube:
The presentation was given last June in Seattle and has a strong focus on the end-user experience.
The presentation was given last June in Seattle and has a strong focus on the end-user experience.
Labels: Application Scalability, Database Sharding, Scalability Architecture, Scalability Economics